


Four Times Heymans Braeda Shone as a Father

by SonjaJade



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Parenthood
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-15
Updated: 2014-06-15
Packaged: 2018-02-04 19:48:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,660
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1791022
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SonjaJade/pseuds/SonjaJade
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tumblr, the night before Father's Day 2014.  I saw a post that had this written:</p><p>ALL YOUR FAVORITE MALE CHARACTERS AS FATHERS<br/>ALL YOUR FAVORITE MALE CHARACTERS UP AT 3AM BOTTLE FEEDING THE BABY<br/>ALL YOUR FAVORITE MALE CHARACTERS FALLING ASLEEP WITH THE BABY IN THEIR ARMS BECAUSE NEITHER HAVE SLEPT ALL NIGHT<br/>ALL YOUR FAVORITE MALE CHARACTERS MAKING FACES AT THEIR BABY TO MAKE THEM LAUGH<br/>ALL YOUR FAVORITE MALE CHARACTERS GIVING PIGGYBACK RIDES<br/>ALL YOUR FAVORITE MALE CHARACTERS AS FATHERS</p><p>I used the four prompts given to write some short ficlets for my RP partner (who plays Rebecca) showcasing Braeda's ability to take care of her two children.  Mat is her son via a Drachman that she'd met just after the Promised Day (who turned out to be married and had a family already in Drachma...), and Carmen, a daughter she has by Braeda after they are married.  Please enjoy these 4 shorts that show how Braeda really shines as a dad- something he's wanted to do his whole life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**ALL YOUR FAVORITE MALE CHARACTERS UP AT 3AM BOTTLE FEEDING THE BABY**

 

Braeda slept light these days, especially since he and Rebecca had brought their daughter, Carmen, home from the hospital. Rebecca teased him that he was so attuned to the sounds she made in the night, that he could tell you how many times she sighed, burped, or farted in her diaper. Braeda withstood the teasing proudly though. Rebecca had made him a father, first with her half Drachman son Mat, and now Carmen, and he did his daddy duty proudly.

Around quarter to three on a Thursday morning, his daughter stirred awake. Her first sounds were little irritated grunts, and Braeda was wide awake at the noise of her squirming in her blankets. He swung his legs out of bed and hurried to her bassinette.

“Shh, don’t fuss! Daddy’s here!” he whispered as he picked her up and put her on his shoulder. He carried her out to the living room, a dry diaper in hand, heading for the couch. He quickly changed and redressed her (she was strong enough already to pop the snaps on her onesie open, reminding him of how he wore his uniform jacket unbuttoned), then carried her to the kitchen to make a bottle of milk for her.

He couldn’t remember anything from his own babyhood, of course. But his mother hadn’t spoken much about it either. He wasn’t sure of how she would have done things. But he was determined to the father he never had, and if it meant letting his wife sleep through the night so she could be a better mother during the day, then so be it. He retrieved a bottle of Rebecca’s milk from the icebox and readied a pot of water to heat the bottle up.

By now Carmen was starting to really get hungry. Her little whines were beginning to escalate into real cries, and Braeda hoped the milk would heat quickly. He found a pacifier lying on the countertop and he dipped it into the open bottle top and popped it into her mouth.

“It’s coming, just a little bit longer!” he promised. He dipped his pinkie into the top to check the temperature and found it was close enough. Definitely not boiling and certainly not cold. He’d gotten really good at screwing the nipple on one handed, and he reclined Carmen in his arms when he was finished with the bottle- the universal signal to any infant that food was imminent.

Carmen’s tiny arms seemed to be reaching for the bottle before he’d even got close enough to her mouth. As soon as warmed milk began passing over her lips, her angry sounds settled, and quiet, contented sucking could be heard.

“That’s the good stuff, isn’t it?” he said, watching her eat. “I know the leftovers aren’t as good as drinking it from the source, but Mommy needs her rest.” And he knew of what he spoke. He’d tasted his wife’s milk in both stages. It was definitely better from her breast, though he was surely a little bias.

He rocked Carmen gently as she ate. Her eyelids began to grow heavy, and eventually, her sucking became slower and slower until she finally stopped. Sitting the bottle aside, Braeda put his daughter on his shoulder again, burp cloth already in place, and began to pat her back until she belched. It was a dry burp, thank goodness, and he took her back to the bedroom and laid her down in the wicker bed that sat just next to his side of the bed.

“Night-night, little kitten,” he whispered as he kissed her head.

He crawled back into bed next to Rebecca and got comfortable, relieved that Carmen hadn’t woke her up, and ready to get back to sleep himself.


	2. Chapter 2

**ALL YOUR FAVORITE MALE CHARACTERS FALLING ASLEEP WITH THE BABY IN THEIR ARMS BECAUSE NEITHER HAVE SLEPT ALL NIGHT**

Carmen was a ball of energy in the form of a scooting, babbling baby. Her blue-grey eyes were wide open despite the clock on the wall reading half past one in the morning.

“Daddy, Carmen needs to go to bed,” a very tired Mat pointed out.

Braeda sighed. He’d planned to go to bed early tonight, around ten or so. Rebecca was out with ‘The Girls’, and with Mat and Carmen usually falling asleep around eight- thirty, he was sure he’d have time for a beer and to catch the highlights of the baseball game on the radio before turning in. But his little girl wasn’t having it, and now his son looked like he wasn’t having any of _her._

“I know, buddy. We need to figure out a way to get her down before Mom gets home. She’ll be mad as a wet cat if you kids aren’t in bed.” He scratched thoughtfully at his chin. “If we could figure out a way to get her to sit still, she would be out in a few minutes.”

Carmen, who hadn’t quite gotten the hang of crawling, was scuttling about on her bottom, scooting here and there across the carpet and chattering incoherently. Braeda had an errant thought about an off switch, then a thought about Mat when he was young, and then the answer struck him.

“C’mere. I got an idea…” he asked his boy. He brought Mat to his lap and made a big production about holding him in his lap.

“Oh, Mat, you’re such a good boy to come sit with me and be still. You’re gonna get _allll_ my best hugs and kisses!”

He watched Carmen, who was watching them intently. Seeing the two of them ignore her completely seemed to set a fire under her, and she hurried along until she was close enough to her father’s chair.

“Da-da!” she said, reaching upward with her tiny hands. “Da-da! Da-da! Uhh!”

Hook, line and sinker. “But I’m lovin’ on Mat right now!”

Carmen’s cries became downright insistent, almost desperate, and he reached down, scooped her up, and plopped her into his broad lap.

“There, there. Plenty of room for both of ya!” He kissed her forehead as he thought of something else clever to get her to sleep. “Let’s play a game, want to?” he asked. Mat seemed disappointed that they were planning on staying awake even longer, but Braeda winked at him and he caught on quickly. Carmen seemed confused at what a game was.

“What’re we gonna play?” Mat asked with a yawn.

“Let’s play a game called ‘Fast Asleep’. We _pretend_ to all fall asleep, and whoever can do the best job at pretending gets to eat a special breakfast in the morning.” Mat liked that idea and snuggled into the crook of his left arm, and Braeda rested his cheek on top of his head.

Carmen, however, didn’t understand what was happening. She playfully smacked at her daddy’s cheek, but he refused to react to her.

“Da-da? Nigh-nigh?”

She asked him twice more before he cracked an eye open and answered quietly, “Yes, baby. Night-night time.”

She sighed, almost disgusted with the idea of going to sleep, then squirmed into the nest his right arm made for her, and finally laid her head down. Braeda’s eyes looked up toward the clock on the mantle, watching and listening to the children in his lap. One minute. Two minutes. Mat’s breath was evening out and slowing down. Three minutes.

Carmen raised her head, eyes softly closed, then turned to lay with the other side of her face resting on his bicep. Four minutes. Five minutes. Ten minutes.

The next time he looked at the clock, it said 3:17, and Rebecca was gently prying his drooling daughter from his grip.

“I’ll handle her if you can get Mat in bed,” she whispered. He nodded, watching as she began unsnapping Carmen’s pajamas to change her diaper one last time. He held Mat close as he got to his feet and carried him to the little bed in the room he shared with Carmen. He tucked him in with a kiss and he and his wife gently pulled the door shut behind them, and he heaved a sigh of relief.

Rebecca giggled. She smelled like cigarette smoke and beer, with an undercurrent of the perfume she’d worn. “Rough night?”

“Some little girl didn’t wanna go to bed like the rest of us. Didn’t even get a chance to have my nightly beer.”

“Awww,” she teased. “Well, since you’re up, might as well have one now.” She turned and winked at him over her shoulder. “As for me, I’m already loaded. And you know how I get when I’m loaded…”

Oh yes, he remembered _quite clearly_ what happened the last time she came home loaded. He was sure she was going to set a very specific part of his anatomy on fire with her efforts. He laughed low. “Is that a hint?”

“A big one, Captain. I’m gonna take a shower first though. Meet ya in bed!” She hurried to the bathroom as he popped his beer open. He chugged the bubbly hops down his throat and belched, grinning.

“Good thing I took that power nap,” he said with a grin to himself.


	3. Chapter 3

**ALL YOUR FAVORITE MALE CHARACTERS MAKING FACES AT THEIR BABY TO MAKE THEM LAUGH**

“I don’t wanna!” Carmen pouted, crossing her arms and stamping her foot hard enough to jostle her wavy, red pigtails.

“Carmen, you _love_ going to Auntie Riza’s,” Rebecca countered. “You know Hayate and Tsubaki will be there to play with, as well as Penny and-”

“Penny’s mean!” she yelled, her lips pursed in anger.

Braeda furrowed his brows at the mention of Roy and Riza’s little girl being a meanie. “Why are you upset with Penny?”

“Penny sticks her tongue out at me sometimes and it makes me mad!”

Braeda and Rebecca looked at each other. “Has she ever mentioned that before?” he asked.

“Not to me. That seems so unlike Penny… I’ll talk to Riza about it.” She turned to Carmen and knelt down in front of her. “Listen honey, Penny really does like you. And if she sticks her tongue out at you today, well, you can…” Rebecca was trying to think of something on the fly, but seemed unable to pull any ideas out of the air.

“You can make silly faces at her so she sees how silly she looks when she does that!” Braeda said. “Let me see your silliest face!”

Carmen wasn’t biting though. She’d made up her mind she didn’t want to play with Penny today, and she was determined to be miserable if her mom and dad took her to see her.

Mat joined them, saying, “Show Mom and Dad that face I taught you to make when someone cheers for the Gators!”

Mischief lit up in her blue-grey eyes and she was trying hard not to smile. “No.”

Braeda grinned, saying, “Well, let me show you _my_ face when someone says they cheer for the Gators!” He scrunched his features up, drew his face back to create a fierce double chin, crossed his eyes and contorted his upper lip into a half snarl. Mat laughed and encouraged Carmen to show them her face, but she refused.

“Well, maybe my “Go Tigers!” face will change your mind, he said, voice serious as a heart attack. He shook his head, saying he had to ‘loosen up’ before his intense physical contortion.

“Ready?” he asked. Carmen was smiling and nodding. He made the most intense “YES!” face he could, and at last, little girl giggles spilled from her lips. Mat was laughing louder now, and Rebecca was even laughing.

“Daddy, you’re silly!” she cried.

“C’mon! show me your awesome face!” he urged.

She took a big breath, puffed her cheeks out, crossed her eyes and stuck her thumbs in her ears and shook her hands at him. Braeda roared with laughter.

“Wonderful! If Penny sticks her tongue out, make that face and she’ll be laughing so hard she won’t be able keep it stuck out!”

Rebecca sighed. “Alright, now that we’ve got that settled, let’s get our butts in gear!”

Braeda took Carmen’s hand and they happily exited the house, on their way to Roy and Riza’s.


	4. Chapter 4

**ALL YOUR FAVORITE MALE CHARACTERS GIVING PIGGYBACK RIDES**

Mat was still sniffling on Braeda’s back as he carried him home from the park. He’d been playing tag with some of his friends and tripped on a rock, twisting his ankle pretty badly. Rebecca had raised Mat not to burst into tears after every tumble and scrape, so when he let loose with a pained wail, Braeda knew he was really hurt.

“Almost there, buddy,” he said as he carried him. “We’ll get Mom to put some ice on it and bandage it up.”

“It still hurts, Dad,” he moaned.

“I’m sure she’s got some aspirin for children. That’ll help a lot with the pain.” He reached up and patted his arm. “You know what always makes me feel better? My favorite ice cream! Once we get home and Mom gets you taken care of, I’ll go out and get a pint of whatever you want! And I won’t even make you share!”

Mat didn’t seem to be all that excited about the promise of ice cream. Instead, he nuzzled into his daddy’s shoulders and whimpered.

Braeda was worried. “Would you rather go to the doctor?”

“What if it’s broke!?” he wailed. “I heard what they do when you break bones from Tommy! He broke his arm and the doctor had to twist it back into place! Tommy said it hurt worse than anything he ever did before!”

Braeda spied a bench just ahead. “Well, let’s see if it’s broken, and then we’ll know if we can go home or go to the hospital.”

“How would _you_ know if it’s broke!”

“I _am_ a grown up, y’know. And I did spend a lot of time in the army, where we had to know some basic field medicine. I know how to treat a broken bone, or in your case, a broken ankle.”

They reached the bench and Braeda turned and slipped Mat onto it. Then he turned again and gently picked up Mat’s leg, looking at the ankle without touching it.

“There’s not that much swelling, so that’s good news,” he said as he continued to examine him. “There’s not any bruising- also very good. Can you slowly try to move your foot in a circle?”

Mat looked afraid to try, but he did. He went slowly, and managed to rotate his foot a whole 360 degrees. He looked hopefully up at Braeda. “It’s awfully sore, but I did it!”

“Did you feel anything crunchy in your joint when you did that?” Braeda asked. “Like potato chips inside your foot?”

He shook his head, dark hair glinting in the sunlight. “No, not at all.”

Braeda held his hand out to him. “Let’s see if you can put any weight on it.”

Mat carefully lowered his foot to the sidewalk, and when it was completely flat on the ground, he winced but continued to lean more and more on that foot, testing how much it could stand.

“Any crunching?” Braeda asked as he motioned for him to sit back down.

“No, no crunching at all. Does that mean I’m gonna be alright?”

Braeda knelt down and picked him up in a piggyback position again. “I think we can skip the doctor. You’ll be right as rain in a few days I imagine.”

Mat seemed to relax at last and he laid he chin on Braeda’s shoulder. “Thanks, Dad.”

Braeda smiled. “No problem, kiddo. Now what kind of ice cream do you think you’d like to have later?”

A heated discussion involving pralines and cream, mint chocolate chip, and classic vanilla sprung up, and Braeda was glad he was able to calm his son’s fears.


End file.
